


On Our Own

by beachtowel



Category: DCU
Genre: Gen, selective mutism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-15
Updated: 2018-06-15
Packaged: 2019-05-23 17:43:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14938923
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beachtowel/pseuds/beachtowel
Summary: Even the best of us have something we can work on or through. Disabilities can affect anyone and that's okay!





	On Our Own

**Author's Note:**

> If this feels tedious, it's because interactions like these can be like that; I took it directly from a personal experience. But when you have an understanding and patient mentor, all these obstacles become a little smaller.

“Alright, girl, are you ready?” Dinah asked with an excited smile.

Cass nodded her head once.

“Yeah?” Dinah baited for audio.

“Yeah,” Cass responded with a gulp and a quiver.

Dinah knew they had about three minutes left of leeway for them to remain on their schedule.

“Hey,” Dinah said in a buttery calm voice. “Hey,” she said again to get Cass's eyes to meet hers. “You got this! You've practiced so hard, right?”

“Right,” Cass gave a thicker response because she knew that's what Dinah was looking for.

“Who did you practice with?”

“...you?”

“Yeah, we did! And what did we work on? Do you remember?”

“...”

Dinah knew lists were difficult.

“What is one thing we worked on?” Dinah tried to ask the same question in a different way. She saw Cass's jaw tense and her eyes drop, but she decided to wait for Cass to try to respond before giving her another prompt.

Just before Dinah was going to ask the same question again, Cass responded.

“Speaking.”

“Yeah! You got it, Cass! We practiced speaking,” Dinah was genuinely proud of Cass. “We talked about two things to remember when we speak to people. Do you remember them?” Dinah hoped Cass could get comfortable giving longer responses.

Cass nodded. “Yeah.”

“What were they?”

“.....”

Silence passed through like a cranky old man with a bad hip.

“Cass?”

Cass swallowed, eyes turning slightly red as they stared at her hands.

“Um,” was all she gave.

“Do you remember the first one?” Dinah knew it wasn't easy, but Cass could do it. “It had to do with how loud we have to be,” Dinah whispered to dramatize her example.

“Uh, volume.”

“Yeah! You got it! So are we going to be soft like a mouse? Squeak! Or do we want to speak loud enough so they can hear us?”

“L-l-loud enough so th-they can hear us,” Cass said just a little louder.

“Awesome! And do you remember the second thing?” Dinah didn't want to rush Cass but she didn't want her to be late, so she gave her the answer. “Is it eye contact?”

“Uh, yeah.” Cass confirmed, making quick eye contact herself.

Dinah smiled. “You so got it, Cass. You're gonna rock it!” Cass high fived her before Dinah realized she was raising her hand to offer one.

 

-

 

“So Cassandra,” the soft lady smiled. “Why are you interested in this position?”

Cass blinked at her and calmly looked straight at Dinah.

Dinah gave her a head nod, indicating that Cass could respond on her own.

“I like art.”

“Mhm,” the lady responded as she recorded the answer. When Cass didn't continue, the interviewer did. “Great! Is there anything else that interests you?”

Cass looked at Dinah.

Dinah spoke for comfort. “Is there another reason you wanted to work here other than doing art?”

“Um. H-h-h-helping kids.”

“Yeah! You can tell her directly if you want to,” Dinah wanted to encourage the independence.

Cass turned to the lady with a swallow. “Helping kids.”

 

-

 

After 20 minutes of the same back and forth, Dinah and Cass stepped back out. Cass was beaming. When they got back into the elevator, Cass did a high kick from the adrenaline. 

“How are you feeling?” Dinah asked with a growing smile.

“Good!” Cass beat Dinah to the high five again.

“Awesome! You did good in there! I'm very proud of you, Cass!” Dinah let her somewhat student slash client know.

“Thanks!” Cass immediately looked and sounded more comfortable coming out then when she did going in.

“All we have to do now is wait,” Dinah reminded Cass what the next step was. “If they decide that they want to give you the volunteer position, then they'll email you on Thursday, right?”

“Right.”

“And if they don't email you, that's still okay!”

“Right!”

“Yeah, it's good practice for future interviews either way, right?”

“Right!”

“Awesome. What would you like to do now?” Dinah asked. They had about an hour left on their usual schedule.

Cass stilled at the open-ended question. “Mm.”

After a minute of walking back to the car in silence, Dinah continued. “Do you want to get a treat for your interview, do you want to practice more, do you want to end early, or do you want to do something else?”

“Something else,” Cass said immediately. She got in the car and put her seatbelt on. Dibah figured she wouldn't want to end early, she never did, but she liked giving Cass the option in case. She also figured Cass didn't want to do anything that involved talking to more strangers, so getting ice cream was ruled out.

“Okay, do you want to exercise, do some art, or something else? Dinah started the car, pretty sure she knew the answer.

“Art.”

“Do you want to do a craft project… or paint… or just color... or something else.”

“Just color.”

“Alright, let's do it.”

 

-

 

 **Bboy:** How was it?

 **Ladybird:** She got shy but still, she's come a long way.

 **Bboy:** Did she get it?

 **Ladybird:** They said they'll respond Thursday, but I don't think so.

 **Bboy:** I'll make a call.

 **Ladybird:** Don't you dare. She wanted to do it without you.

 **Ladybird:** Let her get there on her own. She can do this.

**Author's Note:**

> Cass didn't get the after school "Children and Art" volunteer position. But with continuous practice on her social and linguistic abilities, she was able to go on more interviews. She got a coach assistant position 5 months later!


End file.
